KINO OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 235 



Canada. It has small irregular white flowers. The fruit is a 

 true legume or pod, 6 to 8 inches long by 2 broad, hard and 

 flattened, containing flattish seeds embedded in pulp. In Ken- 

 tucky and Tennessee the seeds were in early times used as a 

 substitute for coffee, hence the name Kentucky Coffee Tree, 

 but their use was given up on true coffee becoming easily ob- 

 tainable. In favourable localities the tree attains a height of 

 50 to 60 feet, with an average diameter of 1 to 2 feet, frequently 

 destitute of branches for the first 30 feet, covered with a rough 

 scaly bark, which becomes loosened and rolled up in strips, 

 giving to the tree a remarkable appearance. It is extremely 

 bitter and saponaceous, forming a froth on water like soap. Its 

 timber is hard, and used for many purposes. In the original 

 arboretum at Kew there is a good example of this tree, which 

 in 1864 was a hundred years old, being one of a collection of 

 trees presented by the then Duke of Argyle to George III. on 

 the establishment of the Gardens. In summer its fine foliage 

 forms an important feature, but in winter its thick rigid branches 

 give it the appearance of being a dead tree. 



Kermes. {See Oak.) 



Ketchup. {See Mushrooms.) 



Kidney or French Beans {Phaseolus vulgaris), an erect dwarf 

 annual, supposed to have been originally a native of Western 

 Asia, now universally cultivated for the sake of its young pods. 

 There are numerous varieties, one of which is called Haricot ; 

 the dried beans of this variety form a considerable article of 

 food in France and Italy, and are sometimes used in this 

 country. In the first year of the potato famine (1847), 1200 

 quarters of Haricot beans were imported from America. 



King Cups. {See Bulrush.) 



Kinka Oil ( Verno7iia anthebmntica), an annual herb of 

 the Composite family (Compositse), common in many parts of 

 India. Its seeds by pressure yield a solid green oil, possessing 

 valuable properties, which promise to make it of considerable 

 value in the arts. 



Kino, Gum. {See Gum Kino.) 



